Sponsored: Founders to Watch in Beauty Tech

Read about L’Oreal’s Women in Digital Next Generation Awards, past winners and some founders to watch who are focused in beauty tech.

By Ayesha Rizvi (Multimedia & Editorial Assistant, Women 2.0)

L’Oreal’s Women in Digital program is all about supporting female entrepreneurs and advancing the technology they build. This is why the “Next Generation Awards” were created. Their ultimate goal is to seek out women-operated businesses that help conceive, launch, and scale new technology that has the potential to revolutionize the digital space, drive brand innovation, and shape the next generation of the beauty industry.

Since 2012, there have been eight winners from Next Generation Awards, all of whom have impressive profiles.

“L’Oreal Women in Digital gave us the opportunity to provide true business value while working to serve L’Oreal brands,” said Kelsey Falter, founder of Poptip and also a winner from last year’s Next Generation Awards. “L’Oreal Women in Digital helps startups, like Poptip, fast track their interactions with decision makers at the top level of the organization or brand,” Falter added.

“I’m continually impressed by Rachel Weiss, the VP of Digital Innovation, Content and New Ventures at L’Oréal and one of the organizers of the awards, so getting to know her through the process was also one of the big benefits,” said Kathryn Minshew, founder and CEO of The Muse and a winner of the 2012 Next Generation Awards. “I keep in touch with a number of the women I met through, or got to know better through, the L’Oreal awards, including Rachel, Jalak Jobanputra and Sallie Krawcheck. Sallie and Jalak are actually both investors in TheMuse now,” Minshew said.

Below we featured some other leading women with fast-growing startups serving the beauty industry.

Jennifer Goldfarb (Co-founder & President, ipsy) Ipsy is the world’s fastest growing beauty community centered around their award-winning monthly Glam Bag, a beauty sampling service that is shipped to over half a million subscribers in the US and Canada. Having started her career in beauty at Bare Escentuals as director of marketing and later becoming VP of corporate strategy, founder Jennifer Goldfarb also has experience in investment banking at Lehman Brothers & Goldman Sachs. She holds a BA in English from Duke University and a MBA from Stanford University.

Hillary Hutcheson (Co-founder, BeautyBooked) Beauty Booked is the first discovery and booking website for the best salons & spas around the world. It provides 24/7 access to top vetted beauty spots, their individual editorial reviews and the ability to book appointments instantly with the click of a button. Founder Hillary Hutcheson is a beauty marketing professional with expertise in Global & US brand management, strategy & new product development. She has also managed countless multi-million dollar brands at L’OREAL and holds a MBA from London Business School.

Melody McCloskey (Founder & CEO, StyleSheet) StyleSeat is an online destination that connects beauty and wellness professionals with clients. Founder Melody led digital distribution for Current TV prior to StyleSheet. She was also recently named one of the Most Creative People in Business 2014 by Fast Company. McCloskey was also a finalist in the 2012 L’Oreal Next Generation Awards and was named one of the L’Oréal Women in Digital Honorees. She holds a B.A in International Relations and French from University of California, Davis.

Hannah Wright (Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Makeoverly.com) Makeoverly is an online beauty and fashion Q&A mag where anyone can browse or submit questions to makeoverly.com’s 100+ fashion and beauty contributors who are fashion and beauty bloggers, makeup artists, YouTube gurus, and more. Founder Hannah Wright currently resides in Alaska and has worked for startups such as Beauty.com. She is passionate about technology, startups, beauty and the outdoors.

What other female-led tech startups are breaking in to the beauty industry?

About the author:Ayesha Rizvi is a multimedia & editorial assistant at Women 2.0. She is interested in women, technology & how both, when combined, can contribute to economic growth and stability in the developing world. You can find her on twitter at @arizvii